Asynchronous Transfer Mode, or “ATM,” is a protocol used to communicate data in a packet-based network. Particular challenges surround employing ATM to communicate voice information in a packet-based network utilizing ATM technology. Each element involved must be associated with a unique ATM address. If multiple devices have the same ATM address, network failures occur. The negative effects that flow from network failures abound. Two exemplary consequences of network failures include data being routed to the wrong location or data not being routed at all.
Historically, generating and tracking ATM addresses has been a difficult task. ATM addresses were manually generated by hand. But manually conceiving ATM addresses increases the probability of address duplication because there is no robust way to ensure that a created address is unique. Moreover, the probability of errors in address creation is relatively high in a manual process. Typically, an ATM address is 160 bits long. Accurately configuring all 160 bits manually requires is burdensome and resource intensive. After ATM addresses are created, it is desirous to store them.
A popular prior technique for storing ATM addresses was to type them into a local spreadsheet. Merely attempting to store manually generated ATM address in a spreadsheet, however, offers no validation, is subject to data-entry errors, and does not practically allow multiple users to access current ATM addresses or input new ones.
As networks grow in complexity, so too does the need for a system and method that automatically generates and maintains ATM addresses. The prior art does not offer a method or system that automatically generates ATM addresses to be used in connection with a communications network. A need exists for a system that ensures unique addresses will be respectively assigned to one and only one network element. A further shortcoming of the prior art is that no scheme is available that provides a centralized access point that can be used to request, obtain, and view ATM addresses. The prior art could be still further improved by providing validation and security functionality to help ensure that proper ATM addresses are generated and assigned. Finally, the prior art offers no mechanism to notify desired persons or entities of ATM addresses incident to origination.